\ 



150 AVBS. 



Laoofus, 



Or Ptarmigan, is more particularly applied to those species which have 

 a round or square tail and whose toes are feathered as well as the legs. 



Tdr. albus, Gm., called of Hudson's Bay. (The White Ptarmig'an.) 

 From the whole North; is larger, and its summer plumage more red; its belly 

 remains white. 



Perbix, Briss. 

 Partridges have the tarsi naked like the toes. Among them the 



FnANCoiiNtrs, Tem. 

 Is distinguished by a longer and stronger beak; a larger tail, and, generally 

 speaking, by stout spurs. 



Common Partridges 

 Have a somewhat weaker beak; the spurs of the males are either short, 

 or mere simple tubercles; they are deficient in the female. 



COTURKIX. 



Quails are smaller than Partridges, with a slenderer beak and shorter tail; 

 no red eye-brow nor spurs. 



The Partridges and Quaiis of America 

 Have a stouter, shorter, and more convex beak; the tail is somewhat 

 larger. They perch on bushes, and, when distui-bed, even on trees. Se- 

 veral of them migrate like the Quails of Europe. There are some othei* 

 subgenera. 



TiNAMus, Lath. 

 Or the Tinamous is a genus of American birds very remarkable for a slen- 

 der and long neck, (although their tarsi are short) covered with feathers, the 

 tips of whose barbs are slender and shghtly curled, which gives a very pe- 

 culiar air to that part of their plumage. The beak is long, slender, and 

 blunt at the end; somewhat arched, with a little groove on each side; the 

 nostrils are pierced in the middle of each side, and penetrate obhquely 

 backwards. Their wings are short, and they have scarcely any tail. The 

 membrane between the base of the toes is very short. Their thumb, re- 

 duced to a spur, cannot reach the ground. The ch-cumference of the eye 

 is partly naked. They either perch on low branches of trees, or liide among 

 tall grass; they feed on fruits and insects, and their flesh is good. Their 

 size varies from that of the Pheasant down to that of the Quail, some of 

 them are even still smaller. 



CoLUMBA, Lin. 

 The Pigeons may be considered as forming a slight transition from the 

 Gallinace^ to the Passerinae. Like the former, theu- beak is vaulted, the 



